Thomasville to Cane Bluff

[BrianK]

I've floated Cane to Greer but thinking of checking out Thomasville to Cane this spring with flows still good.

Anyone floated / fished that stretch? How's the water thru there???

Any shuttle or access problems?

The Paddler's Guide says 9 miles and not to attempt at low water. I don't mind dragging but there are no river gauges up there to know what the flow is.

I've never talked to anyone who's fished it and no talk of it here?

hmmmm.

thanks fellas,

bk

[jdmidwest]

Its been 20 years ago, river is smaller up there and should float good this year with all the rain. Of course there could be alot of log jams. Smallmouth and goggle eyes are great, make note of the special size limits on this stretch of the stream. Expect a full days float, get in early. Take a GPS to keep track of where you are unless you want to stay the night. Shuttle ride will be a long one, long trip around from place to place and the Cane Bluff road can be rough at times.

Talk to Brian Sloss at the canoe rental in Alton for more info or wait for him to post a response here. He is a guide on the 11pt.

[Brian Sloss]

If you are wanting to start at Thomasville, now is the time. The sooner the better while the water is good enough. Had a couple of guys float through there 2 days ago and the smallmouth were biting. The spawn should be starting up there soon if not already going on. It is a pretty float that you can't take often. I am available for a rental canoe or a shuttle of your car. Just let me know when, if you need my help.

[BrianK]

thanks guys.

sounds good. Yeah, i remember almost losing my canoe off my truck the first and only time down the road to Cane Bluff.

I'm guessing it might compare to upper Jack's Fork as far as size/ flow??? The paddlers guide says there is a float camp 6 miles down...still there? that is a good reference point to know where you are since i'm GPS-less. was planning on an overniter.

bk

[Mark]

A couple friends and I floated T'ville to Cane Bluff 2 years ago in early June. The first mile or two is more of a creek. We were only carrying fishing gear so it wasn't hard to portage over logjams and such. With a canoe full of camping gear, it would have been a hassle because there were numerous places we had to portage. We didn't have great luck fishing, although we were primarily sightseeing and didn't put in the water until noon. It was quite a drive to Cane Bluff and then to Thomasville to have vehicles at both places.After the first couple of miles it becomes much more floatable. We saw a couple pretty springs, one in particular coming out of the side of the bluff right on the river.

Our biggest disappointment - cattle in the river. One stoppped right in front of us to take a big crap. Totally turned us off to fishing or swimming. And not just a couple cattle, livestock run in and out of the water for several miles in parts.

I realize people own land on both sides of the river and are grandfathered in as far as using the river as a source of water for livestock. But there really should be a law against it. We'll never float that section again.

[BrianK]

Denny Hollow float camp still there? sometimes they get 'decomissioned'.

[snap]

...fishing is better than mark remembers! It is a long float and difficult to fish when one needs to take out. I found the fish to be skittish..but then again, we had multiple canoes coming down the river and the water level was much lower than it is now. Caught many smallmouth early in the float, yet saw many very nice fish as we moved down the river. Some of the holes in the first 2-3 miles had the fish I saw...I think you could do well in this stretch of river.

[BrianK]

Snap-

thanks for the info.

what time of year did you float it?

yeah, it's always tough to fish a long stretch of river in one day. Most of us end up paddling past some good looking water at the end of the day to make it to the take out. That is one of the nice things with a 2 d float...you get the prime evening and next morning hrs when the bite is best.

sounds like a nice stretch of river. will remember to pack light for portages. been needing to get a good dry bag anyway.

bk

[superfly]

Anyone,

Planning a trip in May. Thinking about starting at Cane Bluff to try the smallies out. Is there any known portages between Cane Bluff and Greer? Is there any nice sand bars to camp at where Greer Springs dumps into the 11point?

Thanks, Matt

[BrianK]

My first and only time from Cane to Greer was about 13 yrs ago (wow, I just had an early life crisis) so I don't remember too many details.

Mainly just that i had my canoe on pads on the roof and it tried to slide down onto the hood coming down the road to Cane Bluff!

Other than the road I don't recall any scary spots but sorry i'm not much help.

I do remember the river looked fantastic and was surprised we didn't do better. It was August though and have learned a few things since then.

I'm going to try to get down in the next few wks as well. Mother's day wknd not the best move though.

Brian